Portrait of Tawf da Butcher

This photo was taken about three years ago in Tawf’s kitchen, it came about as a collaboration between us as part of a personal project that I have been working on for a while now.
The idea plays on a few things that are connected to Tawf, his love of food and his cultural background. Tawf’s full name is Tawfic Elgazzar, his last name translated into english means butcher which is the nickname that he goes by. The choice of lamb shanks is a reference to his Arabic background, Tawf is from Egypt, the sphinx like pose is actually a coincidence, it worked for the shot and we went with that.

The colours were deliberately kept subdued in the background to bring focus to the red colours, linking the lamb with his shirt and stove in the background; creating the link to culture, the person, and cooking.

You’ll notice the pressure cooker on the stove, well after the shoot Tawf put those lamb shanks into the cooker and we ate them, the meat was still fresh.